The whole album has great energy and was a great album to rock out to. It has a familiarity to it, as it sticks with their classic sound. The album takes a lot of inspiration from Greek Mythology and other fantasy characters with Olympus Rising, Thunderbolt, Nosferatu, Sons of Odin and A Wizard’s Tale all surrounding some sort of myth.
Their title song, “Thunderbolt” is my personal favorite with its heavy drum and guitar intro. With lyrics of “Master of the heavens, ruler of the sky,” this song is about Zeus. It’s a perfect pair to “Sons of Odin.” In that track, there are several mentions of Valhalla and please to “Remember me.” This is the perfect track for any warrior to be remembered by.
Nosferatu is another favorite track. It has a dark opening with a heavy intro of deep bass and an organ. This song about vampires takes you to that dark place where “in the darkness, evil creeps…darkness kills the light.” As a fan of old vampires, this was a favorite song, but Saxon did such a great job dedicating a song to the classic Nosferatu, but also setting the stage for the lyrics with the music matching the personality of this dark creature.
Predator is another dark song. It sounds as if the devil himself is on the track with his deep voice accompanying lead vocals.
On Saxon’s website (saxon747.com) lead singer, Biff, talks about the song dedicated to 1979 Motörhead and the rock scene there. In his inspiration, she said he wants to take their older listeners back to that golden age of Rock and Roll, and introduce his newer listeners to it. In “They Played Rock and Roll,” you definitely get that feeling of how legendary the rock scene was. The lyrics were a great homage to Motörhead with “bass like thunder, drums of steel, guitar of fury.”
Perfectly named, “Speed Merchants” is a great fast track. The speed metal track gets your blood pumping and would be great to run along with.
The final track is a great tribute to the band’s roadies. It’s an appreciation for their hard work, as the chorus is all about their heavy tasks, and “it’s never easy to earn a wage.”
Overall, this album really rocks, and if you’re a fan of any of the great legends from the 70’s, Saxon should definitely fall in your list and needs a place in your collection. The guitar shredding and heavy drums makes it a great album to rock out to, and the mythological tracks are great to get carried away in the storytelling.
